New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) It was a clear and sunny morning in the national capital on Sunday with the minimum temperature recorded at 28.5 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average."The sky will remain partly cloudy throughout the day," an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.The maximum temperature was expected to hover around 38 degrees Celsius.The humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 62 per cent.Saturday's maximum temperature settled at 38.3 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average while the minimum temperature was recorded at 28.2 degree Celsius, normal for this time of the season.--IANS<br>gt/ksk

Srinagar, July 8 (IANS) Authorities imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar city and some other places in the Kashmir Valley on Sunday to prevent a protest called by the separatists to mark the second death anniversary of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani.Security forces killed Wani and two of his associates in Kokernag area of Anantnag district on July 8, 2016.Senior separatist leaders, Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq were placed under house arrest. Muhammad Yasin Malik was taken into preventive custody."Restrictions will remain in force in areas under the jurisdiction of Nowhatta, Khanyar, Rainawari, M.R. Gunj and Safa Kadal police stations in old city Srinagar," the police said."Partial restrictions will remain in areas under the jurisdiction of Kralkhud and Maisuma police stations."Restrictions continued for the second day today in Tral, Wani's ancestral home town.Heavy contingents of police and paramilitary forces were deployed in sensitive areas in Srinagar and other district headquarters.Mobile internet services were suspended throughout the Valley while the speed of fixed line broadband connections were slashed.Rail services were suspended as a precautionary measure.--IANS<br>sq/ksk

Kansas City, July 8 (IANS) A 26-year-old student from Telangana was shot dead by a suspected robber at a restaurant here in the US state of Missouri, police said.Sharath Koppu, a student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UKMC), was shot at about 7 p.m. on Friday at J's Fish and Chicken Market near 54th and Prospect, where he worked as a part-time employee, The Kansas City Star local newspaper reported.The police released a brief video of the suspect inside the restaurant moments before the shooting and asked for the community's assistance in identifying him.Koppu was a software engineer who came to the US in January to pursue his master's degree.Meanwhile, Raghu Chowdavaram, the victim's cousin, created a GoFundMe account on Saturday to collect money to pay for the body to be returned to India. It raised $25,000 in three hours."He had the same dreams like everyone else, to make it big in the land of opportunity. He had a great sense of humour and always made people laugh and was always eager to lend a helping hand," Chowdavaram wrote in the GoFundMe account. A worker at the restaurant told The Kansas City Star that the suspect, wearing a brown shirt with white stripes, had demanded money and pulled out a gun.As people hid or ran for cover around him, Koppu bolted directly away from the suspect, towards the back of the store."(Koppu) ran, so he shot him in the back," the worker said.Koppu died after being taken to a hospital."We offer our sincere sympathies to Sharath's family and friends in the wake of this senseless tragedy," UMKC said in a statement on Saturday.UMKC Chancellor C. Mauli Agrawal offered his own condolences in a tweet Saturday evening."Sharath and I share an Indian heritage, but all of us at UMKC share in the grief such tragedies bring," Agrawal wrote.--IANS<br>ksk

Washington, July 8 (IANS) Two US Navy destroyers sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a move that could further heighten tensions between Washington and Beijing, according to a top official.The warships, the USS Mustin and USS Benfold, headed north, the US Navy official told CNN, and are the first American warships to pass through the strait since July 2017, when the USS John S. McCain made the transit. Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Charlie Brown called the passage of the ships "a routine transit"."US Navy ships transit between the South China Sea and East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, and have done so for many years," Brown said.China is perceived as sensitive to US military vessels travelling through the strait and continues to lay claim to Taiwan. The US Navy has not sailed an aircraft carrier in that area since 2007.China has boosted its own military presence in the region, sailing its own aircraft carrier through the strait in January, reports CNN. China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of the Chinese Civil War nearly 70 years ago.President Donald Trump made headlines when he became the first American president-elect to accept a congratulatory phone call from his Taiwanese counterpart Tsai Ing-wen.--IANS<br>ksk

Washington, July 8 (IANS) Thousands of African-Americans marched through Chicago, where they shut down the Dan Ryan Expressway to denounce the wave of violence suffered by the community in this city.Saturday's march was led by the Reverend Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church, who said minutes before setting out that this was a non-violent protest for peace, reports Efe news.As the march was just beginning, state police detained the demonstrators in 76th Street to talk about whether the state of Illinois would allow them to block six lanes of the interstate expressway.They waited there for a tense hour until the police allowed them to shut down the expressway.As the march went forward once more, the original 2,000 protesters were joined by hundreds more demonstrators. Many in the growing crowd wrote on the street and some bridges along the way the names of those slain in the violence.James Curry, a protester age 62, said the African-American community in the city needs better education, because no kid grows up saying he wants to be a gangster.Many demonstrators carried posters saying "We need jobs", "Stop the violence", "No more drug war", "Save our schools" and "Black lives matter".Pfleger and Reverend Jesse Jackson, an activist who in his youth marched with Martin Luther King, said the protest ought to make politicians aware of the unacceptable violence that afflicts the south and west sides of the city, where there are several black neighbourhoods.So far this year, 271 people have been killed in Chicago and another 1,435 were wounded in acts of violence, mostly in those districts.At the end of the march, during which no one was arrested, Republican Governor Bruce Rauner tweeted a criticism of Chicago's Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel for allowing the march to block the expressway.--IANS<br>ksk

Mumbai, July 8 (IANS) Actress Niharica Raizada who is gearing up for her forthcoming film "Total Dhamaal", has revealed that she will be seen next in a Netflix web series.Niharica was interacting with media at the birthday celebration of singer Kailash Kher on Saturday here."I can't reveal too much about it, but all I can say that it's a Netflix web series and now we are shooting it. The shoot will end around August-September," Raizada said.Talking about her experience in "Total Dhamaal", she said: "I think this has been the greatest opportunity for me. It is such a big film and all big artists like Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgn and Arshad Warsi in it."I had fun working with Arshad Warsi. He is a fabulous guy and he is a good sport as well because he supported newcomer like me really well. Audience will be able to watch 'Total Dhamaal' in December."Praising filmmaker Indra Kumar, Niharica said: "I hope audience will have great time while watching it. Indra Kumar ji has done a fantastic job with the film and I feel it will be a blockbuster hit.""Total Dhamaal" stars Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi and Jaaved Jaffrey reprising their roles from the previous film alongside Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and Esha Gupta as new additions to the lead cast.The film is directed and co-produced by Indra Kumar. It is a sequel to 2011 film "Double Dhamaal" and the third instalment of the "Dhamaal" film series. It will be a first multi-starrer adventure comedy film to be released in 3D.It is slated to release on December 7.--IANS<br>iv/ksk

Washington, July 8 (IANS) A US service member has been killed and two others injured in what appears to be an insider attack in Afghanistan, NATO said.The attack took place in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, a statement from the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said, BBC reported.It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, or whether they had been apprehended.However, the statement said it was "an apparent insider attack".The two wounded service members are in a "stable" condition, NATO said, adding it would not be releasing any further details until next-of-kin had been informed.But a police officer said the shooting happened at the airport in Tarinkot, the capital of Uruzgan province - although they were unable to confirm this detail with any NATO officials.The Taliban have also released a statement, saying an Afghan soldier opened fire on US soldiers in Uruzgan.The attack comes a year after three US special forces soldiers were shot dead by one of their Afghan colleagues. It was claimed by the Taliban.However, these kind of attacks -- where local troops turn on international forces and often referred to as "green on blue" incidents -- are not necessarily the work of militants infiltrating the security forces.Cultural misunderstandings and combat stress have also been named as the cause in previous attacks.The US still has an estimated 14,000 troops in the country helping support the Afghan military, despite NATO's combat mission in Afghanistan officially ended in 2014.--IANS<br>pgh/

Mumbai, July 8 (IANS) The shooting of Jeetu Joseph's film "Body", featuring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor, has been wrapped up.The film also features Sobhita Dhulipala and Vedhika. Its shooting was wrapped after they shot a 45-day schedule in parts of Mumbai and Mauritius, read a statement."Body" marks the directorial debut of Joseph, who directed Malayalam film "Drishyam".It is produced by Sunir Kheterpal for Azure Entertainment and Viacom18 Motion Pictures.The post-production of the film will begin next month.--IANS<br>rb/pgh/<br>

United Nations, July 8 (IANS) The UN Security Council will hold a high-level open debate on children and armed conflict with the theme "Protecting Children Today Prevents Conflict Tomorrow" on Monday, aiming to bring world attention to the protection of children in armed conflict.Diplomatic sources said on Saturday that the meeting will be chaired by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba will present the secretary-general's annual report on children and armed conflict, Xinhua reported.<br> <br>Other speakers include the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) Henrietta Fore, and Yenny Londono, a civil society representative from Colombia.<br> <br>The Council is expected to adopt a resolution during the meeting, informed sources said.<br> <br>There were at least 21,000 grave violations of children's rights verified by the UN last year (6,000 by government forces and 15,000 by non-state armed groups), a 27 per cent increase over 2016, according to the Security Council Report, Inc. whose mission is to advance the transparency and effectiveness of the Security Council.<br> <br>Increasing violations are largely attributed to "the changing nature of conflict and the deterioration in a number of situations," the SCR said in a report.<br> <br>Among the trends that Gamba may highlight are "the denial of humanitarian access as a weapon of war and increased attacks on schools and hospitals," according to the SCR.<br> <br>Sweden, the chair of the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, circulated a concept note on June 21, which highlights three key areas: protecting children and upholding their rights; successful reintegration of former child soldiers; and peace processes as an entry point for protecting children.<br> <br>Londono, who was forcibly recruited by the FARC-EP (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a guerrilla movement involved in the continuing Colombian armed conflict from 1964 to 2017) when she was 13, is expected to speak about the special needs of children who have been forcibly recruited. She was involved in the peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP and may provide insights on how to better integrate children's needs in peace processes.<br> <br>Sweden had been keen to have a resolution which would build on the approach of last year's presidential statement, which addressed the connection between conflict prevention and the protection of children.<br> <br>While a more focused resolution was originally considered, ultimately it was decided that a more comprehensive resolution would send a strong signal of the Council's commitment to the children and armed conflict agenda, according to the SCR. --IANS<br>pgh/